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Effects of a functional food supplemented with probiotics on biological factors related to dental caries in children: a pilot study

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a functional food supplemented with probiotics on biological factors related to dental caries in children aged 3–5 years.

Methods

A repeated measures pilot study was conducted with children who have consumed a commercial milk containing two lactic acid bacteria as probiotics (WP milk) for a period of 3 months and another period of 3 months consuming a milk without probiotics (NP milk). Salivary pH, plaque index, pH variation before and after a sugar rinse, quantification of Streptococcus mutans in saliva and demineralisation of the carious lesions were determined at the beginning and at the end of both milk ingestion periods.

Results

Regarding WP milk, a non-significant decrease in terms of the concentration of S. mutans and pH variation (p > 0.05), a significant decrease (i.e. acidification) in salivary pH (p < 0.01) and a remineralisation of 39.4% of the caries were found. On the other hand, for NP milk, a non-significant increase in terms of the concentration of S. mutans, pH variation, salivary pH (p > 0.05) and a remineralisation of 64.2% were found.

Conclusions

Lactic acid probiotics can contribute to the decrease in the number of cariogenic microorganisms. However, the appropriate selection of the bacteria type with regard to its acidogenicity is fundamental to avoid the generation of an effect contrary to that expected, e.g. a significant decrease in salivary pH.

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Acknowledgements

This project was funded by the Comité Nacional para el Desarrollo de la Investigación (CONADI), Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia (INV1532) and by the Colgate-ACFO Award 2015. The authors thank Dr. Alex Mira of FISABIO, Valencia, Spain, for reviewing and recommending the manuscript and Dr. Lorena Duran from Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Campus of Villavicencio, for her support in the project execution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. GIOMET Group, Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia-Campus of Villavicencio, Carrera 22 # 7-06 Sur, Villavicencio, Colombia

    M. P. Angarita-Díaz, D. Forero-Escobar, C. A. Cisneros-Hidalgo, C. L. Cabrera-Arango & R. Melo-Colina

  2. GIOD Group, Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia-Campus of Pasto, Pasto, Colombia

    X. A. Cerón-Bastidas & F. Dávila-Narvaez

  3. GIOM Group, Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia-Campus of Medellín, Medellín, Colombia

    C. M. Bedoya-Correa & Sidonio C. Freitas

Authors
  1. M. P. Angarita-Díaz
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  2. D. Forero-Escobar
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  3. X. A. Cerón-Bastidas
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  4. C. A. Cisneros-Hidalgo
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  5. F. Dávila-Narvaez
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  6. C. M. Bedoya-Correa
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  7. Sidonio C. Freitas
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  8. C. L. Cabrera-Arango
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  9. R. Melo-Colina
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Correspondence to M. P. Angarita-Díaz.

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Informed consent was obtained from all the parents/guardians of individual participants included in the study.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Angarita-Díaz, M.P., Forero-Escobar, D., Cerón-Bastidas, X.A. et al. Effects of a functional food supplemented with probiotics on biological factors related to dental caries in children: a pilot study. Eur Arch Paediatr Dent 21, 161–169 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40368-019-00468-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40368-019-00468-y

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